We had an excellent time .
by Rob on 8/2/23Rating: 5 out of 5Darkstar always plays a great show . I have met them and they are very good people.

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Dark Star Orchestra on Tour
More than just a tribute band, the seven members of the Dark Star Orchestra are dedicated to the Grateful Dead live experience, best known for playing full setlists picked from their 2,000+ concerts. The Grateful Dead's live show is legendary, a catalog of improvisation traded and celebrated across decades. The Dark Star Orchestra re-creates the Dead's intra-band interplay and pastoral guitar soloing. Remarkably devoted and true to the source material, DSO tailors their arrangements, gear and tempos to the era of the evening. Some nights find the DSO creating original setlists, playing sets from the Jerry Garcia Band or even jamming with members of the Dead themselves.
Dark Star Orchestra in Concert
Formed in Chicago in 1997, Dark Star Orchestra provides generations of fans with the chance to experience entire Grateful Dead sets, song by song. Named after "Dark Star," a part of the Dead's set known for exploratory jams, DSO rose to national prominence in 1998 when Mike Gordon and John Fishman of Phish joined them for a performance of the Dead's 1983 Halloween show. DSO promptly became a touring sensation: At 2,800 shows and counting, DSO have played more shows than the Grateful Dead themselves. They ultimately enlisted keyboardist Rob Barraco of Phil Lesh and Friends, the Other Ones and the 2003 touring version of the Dead. The DSO have played Bonnaroo and Milwaukee's SummerFest, and they've been hosting their own annual fests for years - the Dark Star Jubilee in Ohio and the Jam in the Sand in Jamaica. Perhaps the most important honor for DSO, though, is enlisting actual members of the Grateful Dead, having performed on stage accompanied by Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Donna Jean Godchaux, Vince Welnick and Tom Constanten. A 2018 show even found guitarist Jeff Mattson playing Jerry Garcia's custom-made guitar, "Wolf," which the Dead founder used for two decades.
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Darkstar always plays a great show . I have met them and they are very good people.
sat down with a bunch of friendly heads and played whisper down the alley— the first whisper: I love you. music blew my mind. Crowd vibes and music are a faithful recreation of an og dead show
Just an awesome night of Grateful Dead music and fans dancing and meeting up with old and new friends!
I LOVE DSO! The Depot is a fun venue where the music never stops 😉✌️
Although it was not a recreated show. The 2 sets were incredible. Seen them about 15x now. They NEVER disappoint! A must see!
I opted for this instead of Fenway Dead and Co which would have been fine but as a veteran of many shows over the last 45 years I decided to leave well enough alone. DSO was more than a reasonable substitute for my fix....but still wish I went to Fenway lol. Boch center is amazing. Whay anyone (fans and bands) goes to the Orpheum is beyond me.
I have seen the band so many times. I can honestly say that the wang theater show on June 23, 2023 was by far one of the better shows ever. The band was on key with every song played. Made for a fantastic evening
I enjoyed the Grateful Dead for many years all over the country so probably 100 shows recently saw a dead and company and was like down. I am not blaming Bobby in the boys they’re just getting older like all of us. Dark star reminds me of the late 80s.
I had heard good things about DSO. Saw them at the Wang/Boch and they were great. They will nicely fill the hole Dead & Co is leaving. I encourage all my head friends to check them out.
DSO put on a fantastic show at the Boch Wang Center last night. Amazing sets and the inside of the venue could not be more beautiful. It was an excellent “pre-game” show for Dead & Co. playing at Fenway Park this weekend. Definitely catch DSO when they come to town. You won’t be disappointed! 💀🌹
What an amazing show! DSO brought to life the magic of March 27, 1972 like no other! From the Bertha opener to the One More Saturday Night encore! They had that place cookin'!! It was also my first time at Penns Peak in Jim Thorpe, PA. What an awesome venue! A beautiful picturesque view of the sunset atop the mountain will be forever burned in my soul. Inside is an awesome & intimate plaxe to enjoy a show! Not a bad seat in the house! And for only a $15 upgrade I found myself in a luxury suite less that 10 feet from the stage on the balcony level with super comfycushioned theater style seating for an older head such as myself! Penns is by far the nicest and by far the nicest vemue i think i been to! Wish it was closer to home (we traveled 4 hrs to get there) but definitely worth it! I give the overall experience an A++ I cant wait to go back, or for my next DSO show!!
Love them! They always put on an amazing show. Alabama Getaway was fire!!!
Love the venue. Peaceful crowd and nice staff. DSO plays the Dead beautifully.
I was hesitant because they were playing at the ritz and the ritz has terrible acoustics. But it was actually awesome. Their Sound guy knew what he was doing. Bravo!
My gripe isn't with the band, it's with the venue. DSO was spot on for a half-empty Ritz, and that's presumably due to a Mother's Day show. Yay, more room to jump around at the rail! The Ritz is the least friendly venue that Raleigh has to offer and a poor venue to host any jam band show and/or represent the scene. Everything is expensive these days but the Ritz probably hits you on the chin the hardest out of all the venues in this town. It wasn't that bad in the "before-times" but it (The Ritz) got really expensive after the concert industry kicked back up.
Fun show from 1973. Got a great Box of Rain and Dark Star!!
DSO killed it tonight. The show rocked! The venue was nice...great sound, and the lounge are upstairs is very comfortable. The seating upgrade was a little pricey, but you get a theater style seat.
DSO is an awesome group of performers; talented musicians that are best appreciated at smaller venues. The show was very good, but I personally prefer set-lists that include more stage time for Lisa Mackey! The venue - The Senate - was perfect size and the service at the bar was great. My only complaint is with their bag policy, which is arbitrary and too restrictive. I had a tiny flat clutch that measured one inch longer than the "paper cutout" used to determine if I could bring it in. Even though I removed the very few items in the clutch to demonstrate that I was not breeching any security concern, I was not allowed to enter the venue with it. Throughout the evening I noted other attendees that had been allowed to bring in bags that were larger than the one I was not allowed. I can only assume that another staff person had been more reasonable than the one at the door when I arrived.
Took my youngest daughter to her first Dead like show. Great experience great venue !!! We had a blast and danced all night !!!
I have seen Dark Star Orchestra about 5 times. This was the worst. I prefer them to any current version of the Grateful Dead. However they took forever between almost every song. It was like they weren’t prepared. They took at least a 30 min break; like come on Jerry Garcia was not there. We know you’re not the Grateful Dead. I want to experience their music not their breaks. BTW I’ve seen the Grateful Dead w Jerry more than 50 times so I know what I’m talking about. Poor song selection and no flow from one song to another. On a scale from 1-10 it was a 3 we left during drums and space I’ve Never done that Ever. Also most followers are now in 50-60s. Starting at 7 and being done at 10 would be cool.